Praise for Breath, Eyes, Memory
Oprah Book Club Selection "Vibrant, magic . . . Danticat's elegant, intricate tale wraps readers into the haunting life of a young Haitian girl."
--The Boston Globe "Danticat's calm clarity of vision takes on the resonance of folk art . . . Extraordinarily successful."
--The New York Times Book Review "A novel that rewards the reader again and again with small but exquisite and unforgettable epiphanies."
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Washington Post Book World "Written in prose as clear as a bell, magical as a butterfly, and resonant as drum talk . . . An impressive debut."
--Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies
"Reading Edwidge Danticat's first novel,
Breath, Eyes, Memory, for the first time in 2015 is a remarkable experience . . . It is clear in retrospect that this is a novel whose literary resonance has been profound, one that opened many doors for others--without it, would we have
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?"
--Barnes and Noble Review "Danticat has created a stirring tale of life in two worlds: the spirit-rich land of her ancestry, whose painful themes work their way through lives across generational lines, and her adopted country, the United States, where a young immigrant girl must negotiate cold, often hostile terrain, even as she spars with painful demons of her past."
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Emerge
"A distinctive new voice with a sensitive insight into Haitian culture distinguishes this graceful debut novel . . . In simple, lyrical prose enriched by an elegiac tone and piquant observations, [Danticat] makes Sophie's confusion and guilt, her difficult assimilation into American culture and her eventual emotional liberation palpably clear."
--Publishers Weekly